SEATTLE — A West Seattle game store is cleaning up after a break-in early Monday morning.
Laura Schneider, who co-owns Meeples Games with her son, Garrett, says she got a call from her security company as alarms went off.
“I was watching it in real time. That’s a little frustrating and a little scary – have some dude grabbing all this stuff off the shelves and banging around,” said Schneider.
Video shows what appears to be a man and a woman who drove up in a black truck.
The man raced up the stairs with alarm lights flashing, pried open a locked security gate, then used a hammer to smash open the glass door to get into the store.
Seconds later, he’s stuffing merchandise into a big bag.
“I know what they’re after – they’re after Magic: The Gathering and Pokémon cards,” said Schneider.
“They had a 3,200 count four-row box of cards that we were in the middle of sorting and appraising for our collection and, on their way out, they had dumped it sideways, and all of the cards fell out in front of the glass door,” said Garrett.
Owners say the thieves either ruined or stole around $3,000 in merchandise and they were long gone before police arrived.
They told KIRO 7 that they’ve had six or seven break-ins over the past few years.
“All the small businesses have had to really up their security. It’s pretty tightly locked up here and it still happens all the time. It seems like people don’t get caught. If they do get caught, they don’t get prosecuted – that’s a big problem,” said Schneider.
Owners say the thief left behind the hammer he used and police were checking it for prints.
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